


Basic Defense

by cassisms (satomobiles)



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Book: Rapunzel and the Lost Lagoon, Episode: s01e04 Challenge of the Brave, F/F, Fluff, Pining, Season 1 era, Sparring, Sword practice, Tangled the series - Freeform, cassunzel, happier times, lost lagoon era, post-Challenge of the Brave, rapunzel knows exactly what she is doing, tangled, theyre in love, theyre married, when i saw you out in that field i knew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:29:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28615842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satomobiles/pseuds/cassisms
Summary: Following the events of the Challenge of the Brave, Rapunzel asks for sparring lessons when Cass would rather be alone.
Relationships: Cassandra & Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Cassunzel - Relationship
Comments: 12
Kudos: 59





	Basic Defense

**Author's Note:**

> fluffier than usual, but i need it, we need it right now. i started this a long time ago, i hope they make you smile. <3

“Cass, that was amazing!”

Cassandra swung around, having just decimated the stuffing out of a hay-bale dummy with her blade.

“Rapunzel, what—what are you doing here?” Her alarm may have seen misplaced, as one caught in some embarrassing act. The princess had seen her train, fight. The _Challenge of the Brave_ should’ve quelled her secrecy in her hobbies, but it only marred them. In truth, today, she had come here, to the little course by the stables, to blow off some steam; to be alone. For once, taking her troubles out on Eugene via battle of wit and word wasn’t quite enough compared to what metal through burlap could satisfy.

“I sort of…”

“What?” Cassandra gripped her sword a little more tightly. She didn’t like being interrupted—she’d finished her castle duties for the time being; she wasn’t scheduled to be by Rapunzel’s side until tea. “ _Rapunzel_.”

“Sort of—wanted to be alone.”

“Wait, _you_ wanted to be alone?” The handmaiden was confused, truly. Rapunzel had stolen the words from her very lips.

“And, I remembered you said you like to come to the stables, to train, so…” The princess raised her shoulders in a shrug, as Cassandra scoffed.

“So you found _me,_ to be alone? Raps, you know that makes no sense.”

“I think I mean… away, from everyone else.” She bit her lip, tugging at her hair, and Cassandra’s face softened. In her desperate heart, she dared to fill in the blanks. Away from _him_? Not as if she could ever say it.

“Well… Here I am.” She stabbed her sword in the lifeless heap of hay, right in the center of its crudely painted target. With her hand on the hilt of her favored blade and her knee up on the rock nearest, she looked a classic image of a swordsman. One who wanted to be left alone.

“Do you think you could teach me how to do that?”

“Do—do this?” She cackled, stepping from the stone. “Raps, I don’t know if your dad would let his daughter, the future queen?—start swinging around a sword.” Cassandra’s selfish, fragile pride was showing again, and Rapunzel, as always, was cruelly unfazed.

“But, didn’t you say… what you do when no one’s looking… is your business?” The princess had slid behind her, to clasp her broad shoulders, and grinned in her ear. Cassandra nearly lost her balance and froze in place. “And with you as my teacher, how could I mess up?”

Rapunzel’s lips brushed Cassandra’s ear, igniting her skin in a blush. “That’s… not exactly how teaching works…”

How long until Eugene, or the King’s men, came to find their precious princess?

Yet, here was an opportunity she had daydreamed about, since that night—sweeping her away again—and who cared if they were alone together—showing her what made her happy, teaching her how to be strong.

Those batting eyelashes certainly didn’t help.

Cassandra sighed. “Okay, _fine_.” Before Rapunzel could burst into a cheer, she stuck out a hand to cover her mouth. “—But not here! We have to go where nobody can see us. If your father or my dad catches us doing this? It’s ‘goodbye, Princess Detail!’ for me. Do you understand that?”

Rapunzel let out a yelp of glee. “Oh, Cass, this will be _fun!_ Let’s go, let’s go right now!”

Cass’s lips were left parted in protest. She _definitely_ didn’t understand that. But that persistent tugging on her arm was enough to grant the crack of a smile for Corona’s future queen, and the laugh that followed brought with it a rush of relief. They broke into a dash across the sun-kissed grass, Cass yanking her sword out of the hay, and grabbing another one of her training swords with it. She gave it a little toss and caught it deftly in her hand, and Rapunzel giggled, matching her pace effortlessly. Sometimes, Cass swore _she_ was the one trying to keep up with the princess (but she would never, ever admit that).

“Where are we going?”

“Just a little farther, trust me!”

Cassandra did know the grounds of Corona like the back of her hand. Every hill and dip and river, she had scrawled on parchment. It may not be so colorful and free-spirited as Rapunzel’s flowers and rainbows, but it was meticulous, precise, artistic in her own way. That was what Raps had told her—‘artistic in her own way.’ She had expected her to think them silly. But Raps never seemed to say that about anything. The girl had a way with compliments.

A skip across a little bend in the stream brought them to a glenn, near enough to the stables if anything were to go wrong, but far enough and with just enough of a barrier of full, lush trees to hide them from the royal eye. The ground was level: no roots or rocks for Raps to trip over and twist an exposed ankle, and enough shade so she wouldn’t fall prey to the midsummer heat. Cassandra was the princess’s handmaiden, even in a tunic and trousers.

“Oh, Cass! This field! This is where I first saw you!” Rapunzel ran on ahead, pointing at a blossoming tree with large, low-hanging boughs.

“Is it?” Cass stood, stoic and scanning the area for animals, ruffians, trouble.

“Yes, don’t you remember?”

She did. Of course she did. How many times had she revisited that memory as of late, rewriting it in her mind, _wishing_ she had noticed Rapunzel up in that tree, so she may offer a gracious hand to help her down? That was stupid, of course. Stupid daydream thoughts.

Cass turned to the princess with a new, bold grin. “When I nearly struck you down from that tree with my shot-put, you mean.”

“I was so scared, at first! I had no idea what it was!”

“Yeah, I don’t know how well ‘Knocked Princess Out Of Tree’ would have looked on my resume…”

Rapunzel giggled and elbowed her side. “Cass, you’re so funny! See, this is already fun!”

“More fun being alone, right?” Cass had a hand proudly on her hip, letting the princess cling to her, while she drew a dusty line on the dry dirt with the training sword.

“Yes, it’s—oh, I feel like I can breathe, out here, with you!” She spun away, jerking Cass’s arm and thus throwing the line askew—an irked complaint started from her lips, but Rapunzel was breathing deeply, and Cassandra watched how her chest rose and fell; how light seemed to drive her body, every part of her alive and electric, and at once the line in the dirt didn’t seem to matter much at all. But it did; for her sake, it had to.

“Let’s get started, then.”

Cassandra extended the sword, holding it by the flat of the blade. Rapunzel turned in her dance, hands held demurely to her chest.

“Here.” She saw the princess was hesitant. “Don’t worry. It’s… like a frying pan. Just, longer.”

Rapunzel hummed, gingerly took the sword and fumbled, gripping it with both hands. “It’s heavy.”

“That’s because it’s a training sword. The guards use these for strength and speed. Get used to the weight of this, and a real sword will be a feather to you.”

Rapunzel blew a loose strand of blonde from her eyes and huffed with that same, adorable determination Cassandra had recently found so annoying. The sword was awkward and foreign in her hands, and she cast her handmaiden a pleading glance.

“Let me show you.”

Cassandra came to stand beside her. Close, closer than she would normally allow herself. Her gloved hands clasped delicately over Rapunzel’s on the hilt. But her chest met Rapunzel’s side, then, and she recoiled, for a moment—and the sword they had begun to lift together tipped to the ground. A new bead of sweat formed on her brow, and she cleared her throat, now suddenly dry.

“Cass?”

Cass cleared her throat again, to no avail, and placed her hands over Rapunzel’s once more, and together they lifted the sword.

“This is basic defense position. Keep your wrists straight and the blade at this angle, here. That way when your opponent attacks, you can defend from any side they come at.” Her tone was stiff and cold, and she winced from it. Why couldn’t she just relax? “I’m… going to let go now, okay?”

“Okay…” Rapunzel bit her lip. Cassandra stepped away from her, breathing an unseen sigh of relief. The princess remained still, the sword perfectly aloft.

“You can relax a little. You’re not a statue.”

Rapunzel blew out some air—was she holding her breath that whole time? No, of course, the tightness was in her own chest.

Cassandra drew up her sword and came to stand on the other side of the line. _Just breathe, Cass._

“Why do I feel like I’m getting _dejà-vu?_ ” she smirked, lifting her sword above her head: basic offense position.

Rapunzel grimaced, failing to meet the handmaiden’s gaze. “Cass, I’m… sorry, about that. Really. The Challenge of the Brave meant so much to you, and I— I still feel bad—“

“Don’t. Rapunzel, it’s okay.”

“I meant it when I said I look up to—“

“Rapunzel. It’s fine. I’m over it.”

“Okay…”

Their swords seemed to creak, awkward, too.

“Aren’t you hot in that?”

“What?”

“Your tunic, your gloves. You must be hot. That’s why you’re so tense!”

Cassandra’s pale face turned completely red.

“I—I can tolerate it.”

“You can take your tunic off, really it’s okay, Cass.”

“The. Tunic. Stays.”

“Okay! Okay, um…”

_Dammit, Rapunzel._

“You know, maybe this is a bad idea. You should at least wear a cuirass, something to protect yourself in case I—“

“Cass, is… something wrong?”

“What? No! Why would you think—Ugh!” She stepped back, putting a hand to her blushing face. “I’m just…”

“Hot?”

“ _No!_ ” Her hands balled into fists at her side, and even her hair seemed to grow extra bushy. What was going on? She could _dress_ this girl just fine, for God’s sake, but trying to spend a normal afternoon with her was driving her crazy.

Rapunzel smiled, then, though Cassandra couldn’t fathom why, other than for her to laugh at her—but she didn’t laugh. She lifted the sword on her own, and she assumed the defensive position perfectly. Always the quick learner. “It’s okay, Cass.”

Cass bit her lip. Did she know? Did she know her glances made her knees weak? Her gentle touches made her want to run away? “Well…” _Really, Cass? You’re ruining it._ She shook her head, brushing off the tension in the air, and braved a new grin. “Just see if you can beat me now!”

She ran at her, swinging from above, and she saw Rapunzel in that moment, wide-eyed, blink and match her grin. _Thank God._

Their swords clacked, and the girls froze in place.

“Good!” Cassandra praised, wasting no time. “Now, the goal in any fight is to find your opponent’s weak points. See my left side? Completely open.”

Rapunzel looked at her exposed side through their crossed blades.

“That’s where you want to strike. Come on, strike me!”

Rapunzel was fast, just as she remembered from the last time. Cassandra spun to parry, and the two began their duel. _Clak, clak, clak!_ Their strikes echoed in the glenn, each evenly matched. That’s what was funny about the two girls: if you could see them, you would notice right away that they seemed to complement each other’s every move, like one was made for the other. It wasn’t so much a fight as a dance, two halves of a whole, and even more-so as Cassandra began to get creative, dashing and ducking and weaving, for Rapunzel was the quickest learner she knew, and it all so suddenly didn’t feel like a lesson at all. Rapunzel was laughing, and Cassandra was, too, and in that sound she found herself swept to a memory: A small child of herself, running around with her little sword, crude and wooden, in this very glenn, chasing a broad-chested man in a familiar tunic. She swung—he gasped and fell— _‘I’ve slain the dragon!’_ a tiny Cass giggled, and she jumped onto her fallen father, pretending to stab as he drew out his dramatic cries. _‘Oh no! I’ve been slain! By Corona’s fiercest knight, Cassandra the Brave!’_ He removed his helmet and plopped it on her tiny head, and it fell over her eyes as she collapsed into laughter on top of him.

“ _Rarrr!_ I’m Wreck Marauder! I like to crush things and talk trash!” Rapunzel growled comedically and stomped around the grass away from Cassandra, her deep voice drawing a delightful peal of laughter from the handmaiden’s chest.

“Even the worst trash-talk wouldn’t compete with how ugly you are, Wreck.” Cass made a dramatic, dashing approach, swishing her blade.

“Oh _no!_ ” Rapunzel turned around, arms raised like a monster. “It’s Cassandra, the bravest warrior in all of Corona!”

“It is I! Cassandra of Corona! And I will destroy you, Wreck the _Loser_!” Cass tossed her sword behind her and ran at Rapunzel—intending just to snatch her, but she tripped over Raps’s training sword, discarded in the grass. “Woah!” Cass collided into her, grabbing her by the waist, and the two tumbled to the ground.

_Oh no—_

“Rapunzel—!”

The princess was motionless, face first in the grass.

“Your highness, I’m so sorry—are you okay?” Cass put a hand to her shoulder, and then she noticed the princess was quivering… holding back her laughter.

Rapunzel burst into giggles. “Oh! I’ve been _slain_ by the Iron Handmaiden! And now… I’m… Dead.” She rolled onto her back and stuck out her tongue.

Cass blew her bangs from her eyes, relieved. They shared a laugh, and Cass tossed some grass at the princess, playfully. Thank God she hadn’t twisted her ankle, or hit her head. Those grass stains would take some time to get out, though…

“You know,” Rapunzel started, gazing up at her, “I don’t understand why you’re not on the Guard.” Oh, she was going straight for the bullseye, on this one. “Why not do both! Be my Lady in Waiting _and_ on the Guard! I’m sure your father could give you something!”

Cassandra was propped up on her elbows, picking at the grass. She let out a bitter chuckle. “You’d think it would be easy. But he doesn’t seem to agree. He thinks Princess Duty is more noble. Sadly, the King is also on his side.”

Rapunzel looked sad at that, and resumed her gaze upward, at the leafy canopies that surrounded them. “Without you, I don’t know how I’d have ever made it through the first few weeks here. Let alone the first _day._ ” Her voice was soft, careful. “I feel safe with you. And, you protect me, and you just taught me how to fight properly! That’s amazing!” Cassandra shrugged, but Rapunzel persisted. “You are my personal guard, right? You’re the most important guard there is. I think that’s pretty noble.”

“I don’t know…” Cass moved to sit up, knees apart. “You heard all those people at the Challenge of the Brave. It’s obvious what everyone thinks of me.”

“Who cares what they think! Cassandra, when will you realize you’re the most incredible person I know?”

She felt Rapunzel’s hand touch hers, timidly. But she returned the touch, and squeezed it, staring ahead. Rapunzel was a cannonball to the walls she fought so hard to keep up around her heart. It could be enough, she thought: This. But then Rapunzel would move, inch closer, in a way that no mere friend would, and she wanted to pull her in, collapse into her chest and feel safe.

The summer breeze was cooler now, and the shadows were green and gold and growing longer around them. The wind ruffled Cass’s hair like an invisible friend, and the folds of Rapunzel’s dress fluttered, bringing to her nose the sweet scent of flowers and honey that Raps always seemed to emit. She breathed in, deeply, intoxicated by it, and realized Raps had been watching her through her silence. She glanced, and grinned, embarrassed.

“Maybe—only if you say it a few more times.”

The princess hummed in warm satisfaction, and Cassandra dropped her head on Rapunzel’s shoulder.

“Princess…”

“Yes, my ‘noble knight?’”

“I…” I’m sorry. I’m foolish. I’m stupid. I love you.

Rapunzel granted Cassandra a little kiss on the top of her head. They sat like that another moment, as birds chirped and the brook bubbled beyond them. Then, she stood and spun, offering a graceful hand which was forever kind.  
“C’mon. Whaddaya say, up for another round?”

Cass smiled, and took it. _Thank you, Raps._

“Are you kidding? I could do this all day!”


End file.
